Police officers responding to a 911 call stating that a woman had been shot found George Bellamy sitting on the steps with the body of Colleen Nicole Carney, who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the face. At the scene, Bellamy told detectives that he was in the rear of Carney’s home when she stepped outside to use the phone, and that he heard a gunshot from outside and looked down the hallway to see Carney stagger into the doorway and fall. However, when confronted with evidence inconsistent with that story, Bellamy later told police that he had shot Carney by accident while they were playing around. He stated that Carney pulled a gun out from under a cushion and started waving it in front of him playfully, and that when he grabbed her arm and twisted it to get the gun away from her, the gun went off and a bullet struck her in the face. The detectives on the scene that night found the gun used in the shooting under the home. Bellamy also presented conflicting information regarding ownership of the gun: first, he told the police that the gun was there when he arrived; later he stated that he brought the gun to Carney’s home, but it was not his; and finally he stated that the gun was his and that he did bring it to Carney’s home, but he did not kill her. This appeal is from Bellamy’s conviction for malice murder, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.1
1. The evidence adduced at trial showed that Bellamy and Carney had a sometimes violent relationship; that shortly before her death, Carney thought she was pregnant, but did not want to bear the child because she already had an eight-month-old child; that Bellamy threatened in front of a witness to kill Carney if she had an abortion; that Bellamy lied to the police about the way in which the shooting occurred, changing his story several times as he was confronted with discrepancies between his stories and the evidence; that his final version, that the gun fired accidentally while he was trying to wrest it from Carney’s hands as she played with it while she was seated on him where he lay on the couch, was inconsistent with the downward path of the bullet and the lack of gunpowder residue on her hands; and that Bellamy hid the gun after the shooting. That evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Bellamy guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, and coupled with evidence of Bellamy’s status as a felon, the evidence was also sufficient to convict him of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
